Mail-bag and lock therefor



( L) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

W. F. BEASLEY. MAIL BAG AND LOCK THEREFOR.

No. 471,167. PatentedMar. 22, 1892.

'NITED STATES PATENT FFrcE.

MAIL-BAG AND LOCK THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 471,167, dated March 22, 1892.

Application filed October 5, 1891. Serial No. 407,697. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

1 Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. BEASLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at OX- ford, in the county of Granville and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags and Locks Therefor; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will .enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide certain improvements on the invention shown and described in an application filed by me on the 6th day of December, 1890, serially numbered 373,779, for improvements in mailbags or looks therefor; for which purpose this invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of which it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by corresponding letters and numerals, Figure 1 is a sectional View showing my lock as contained within a bag. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a bag having my lock applied thereto, the bag being shown open. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line x 00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the lock detached, showing in dotted lines the pin 24", projecting from the strap on the front fold of the bag.

The lock proper consists of the face-plate 1 and rear conical extension 2, the two being united by webs 3, diametrically placed at the junction of the said parts. A central cylindrical bore 4 is formed within the said extension and is continued through the face-plate, as shown. A hollow shell 5, elliptical in crosssection and having front and rear walls 6 and 7, provided with apertures Sin alignment with and corresponding to the bore 4, is secured to the front of the face-plate by screws or bolts 9, passed from the rear of the latter through the said parts, in which position the heads of the screws or bolts will be protected while the bag is locked by the outer folds thereof. A cylindrical shaft 10 passes through the said apertures 8 and the bore 4, the rear of the shaft terminating in a neck 11, which carries a cross-head 12, formed integral therewith and with the shaft, the'greater length of the said cross-head being, by preference, the same as the diameter of the shaft. The shaft is held in place with its forward end flush with the front wall of the shell and its neck in the rear of the rear end of the extension 2 by a pin 13, projecting from its circumference and contained in a flange 14, formed in the rear wall 7 of the shell around the aper- 6o ture 8 therein, the pin thus also bearing on the front of the face-plate. The shaft has its forward end slotted, as at 16, to permit the entrance of a key, and has pins 15 transversely movable therein, the pins 15 when moved inward lying partly within the slotl6, from which they may be shoved by the entrance of the key, corresponding spring-actuated pins 17 being contained in one of the webs and being adapted, when the shaft is in a position to lock the bag, to partly enter the holes occupied by'the pins 15, thus locking the shaft against rotation, the said pins 17 being forced from the said holes by an outward movement of the pins 15, as is well known.

WVithin the shell I place a series of registering-wheels 18, showing through a glazed aperture 19 in the shell, the said wheels being adapted to be actuated by a rotation of the shaft from a locked to an unlocked position, the said rotation being equal to an arc of two hundred and seventy degrees in a forward direction, the shaft being prevented from making a rearward rotation by means of the shoulders 2O thereon, as is described in Letters Patent No. 452,433, granted to me May 19, 1891. The register used is, by preference, that shown in Letters Patent No. 220,124, granted Henry Clark on the 30th day of September, 1879, and 0 in Letters Patent No.-439,624, granted to me November 4, 1890, the shaft 10 and wheels 18 in this case being the equivalents of the barrel B and wheels E E, &c., shown in the lastnamed patent, which mechanism will permit 5 the rotation of the shaft back to its locked position through the remaining are of ninety degrees, the face of the front wall of the shell and the front end of the shaft having marks suitably placed thereon, so when the said :00 marks register it may be known that the shaft is in a locked position, as shown by the letter L in the drawings, or in a position to unlock the bag, as shown by the letter O.

The bag, which is made entirely seamless, has a series of stiIfening-straps secured to the upper edge thereof, the said straps and top of the bag being adapted to fold together, as shown, all of the said straps except that one 21 which will be the rear end one having circular eyes 22 therein of the proper size to receive the extension 2, while those of the straps 21 which will be toward the front of the bag when folded have offsets 23 formed on each side of the eye therein, the said offsets being adapted to receive the wings 3, whereby the extension 2 and parts rigidly connected thereto are prevented from turning.

In the hereinbefore-mentioned application I haveishown the bag and lock as entirely distinct and separate; but I now prefer to connect them together, which I do by forming a longitudinal groove 24 in the forward end of the extension, into which a pin 24, projecting from the strap on the front fold of the bag, is contained, thus permitting the lock to have a limited longitudinal motion in the eye in the said outer fold for the double purpose of reducing to a minimum the obstruction of the mouth of the bag by the lock and permitting the several straps to be folded in place. The strap 21 upon the most rearward of the several folds has an elongated eye or a slot 24 therein, the opposite ends of the said slot being of different shape and corresponding to the opposite ends of the cross-head 12, which are also of diiferent shape, audit will thus be seen that there is but one position in which the cross-head 12 can be inserted in or withdrawn from the slot 24*, and that the crosshead is formed upon the shaft in such a relative manner that this will only occur when the proper designatingqnarks upon the shaft and shell register. A cap 25 is secured to the strap 21" and covers the eye therein, thus preventing any pressure being applied to the cross-head.

In the operation of my device, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 3, the straps of the bag are brought together and the extension 2 shoved backward into the eyes thereof and turned through an arc of ninety degrees, thus placing the cross-head at right angles to the position in which it was inserted through the eye 24, looking the straps of the bags together, while upon withdrawing the key the pins 17 will enter the holes in the shaft previously occupied by the pins 15, looking the latter against f urther rotation until the key can only be withdrawn in the locked position of the shaft. The state of the registering mechanism may now be taken and recorded and the bag forwarded to its destination, the agent at which is notified of the number, and if the bag when arriving there has the same number it may be known that it has not been opened in transit, as it is impossible to open the bag without causing a registration thereof, as will be now shown. In opening the bag the key is inserted in the shaft, and the latter is turned forward through an angle of two hundred and seventy degrees, that movement causing the ends of the crosshead and slotto bear the same relation to each other as they did when the former was 1nsorted in the latter,which it is necessary, owing to their irregular shape, that they assume before they can be separated. This movement, however, will trip the registering mechanism and cause it to add one number to the number already shown, and it will thus be seen that each unlocking movement of the shaft will be recorded. Then the shaft has assumed its full unlocked position, the lock may be moved forward and the bag again opened. It will be evident that as the bag is of seamless fabric any ingress thereto will either be recorded by the register or will be shown by the cutting of the bag, the seamless nature of which is an important feature, as there are no seams that can be ripped and subsequently resewed.

Having thus described m y invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combinatiomwith a bag having eyes therein, of a shaft contained in the said eyes and having a cross-head upon its one end and carrying a face-plate upon the other, of a reg ister adapted to register the rotation of the said shaft, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a bag having a series of eyes therein, one of the end eyes having its opposite ends of irregular shape, a shaft contained in the said eyes and carrying a face-plate upon its one end and a cross-head corresponding in shape to the said end eye upon its opposite end, and a registering mechanism adapted to be actuated by a rotation of the said cross-head from a position across the said eye to one corresponding therewith, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a bag having a series of eyes therein, of a shaftcontained in said eyes and carrying an enlargement upon its one end and a cross-head upon its opposite end, the said shaft being capable of a limited longitudinal movement, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a housing consisting of a face-plate having a conical extension thereon and of webs at the junctionof the said parts, of a shaft contained in the said face-plate and extension and carrying a crosshead upon its projecting end, means for locking the said housing and shaft together, and a bag having a series of eyes therein, in which the said housing and shaft are adapted to be contained, the said eyes corresponding in size and contour to the shape and size of that section of the housing contiguous thereto, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a housing having an enlargement upon its one end, of a shaft carrying an irregularly-shaped cross head upon its one end partially contained within the said housing, means for locking the said shaft and barrel against rotation, and a bag ICC IIO

having a series of eyes therein, in which the housing is adapted to be contained, one of the end eyes of said series being of the same contour as the cross-head and the remaining eyes being of the same contour as that portion of the housing contained therein, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a housing having an enlargement upon its one end, of a shaft partially contained therein and carrying upon its free end a cross-head, means for locking the said shaft and housing together, a bag having a series of eyes therein corresponding in contour to the parts of the housing and cross-head adjacent thereto, and a connection between the said housing and said bag, whereby the housing is permitted a limited longitudinal motion in one of the end eyes of the bag, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a housing having an enlargement upon its one end, of a shaft partially contained in the said housing and having a cross-head upon its projecting end, means for locking the said shaft and housing together, a register adapted to record the rotation of the said shaft, and a bag having a series of eyes therein, the said eyes being adapted to contain the said housing and corresponding in shape to the parts of the housing and cross-head contiguous thereto, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a housing having an enlargement upon its one end, of a shaft partially contained therein and carrying a cross-head of irregular shape upon its projecting end, means for locking the said housing and shaft together, a bag having a series of eyes therein, one of the end eyes corresponding in shape to the said cross-head, the remaining eyes being adapted to contain the said housing and corresponding in shape thereof, a shaft partially contained in the said shell and housing and carrying a cross-head upon its projecting rear end, means whereby the said housing and shaft may be locked together, registering mechanism contained 1n the said shell and adapted to recordarotatton of the said shaft, and a bag having a series of eyes therein adapted to receive the said housing and corresponding in shape to that portion of the housing or cross-head contiguous thereto, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with a bag having a series of eyes therein, of a cover secured to the bag over one of the end eyes of the sald series, a housing adapted to be contained in the said eyes, a shaft partially contained in the said housing and having a cross-head upon its rear projecting end, and means for locking the said cross-head and housing together, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with a seamless bag having a series of elongated eyes in the several folds thereof, all of the said eyes being in alignment with each other when the bag is folded, a shaft having an enlargement upon its one end and a cross-head upon the other, adapted to be inserted in the said eyes, and a register adapted to register the rotations of the said shaft, substantially as described.

111 testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. BEASLEY.

Witnesses:

VERNON M. DORSEY, W. S. ODEN. 

